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Aims and scope: 

testis torsion is an acute condition which is characterized by circulation disturbances in testis tissue. It was shown that testis torsion has similar pathophysiological mechanisms. Our previous studies showed that erythropoietin (EPO) is protective in testicular torsion of rats. Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1) expression increases in hypoxic conditions and accepted as protective against apoptosis. This study was designed to investigate the effects of EPO treatment after unilateral testicular torsion.

Material-Method: 

Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. Group 1 underwent a sham operation of the right testis under general anesthesia. Group 2 was same as sham, and EPO (3,000 IU/kg) infused i.p., group 3 underwent a similar operation but the right testis was rotated 720° clockwise for 1 h, maintained by fixing the testis to the scrotum, and saline infused during the procedure. Group 4 underwent similar torsion but EPO was infused half an hour before the detorsion procedure, and in group 5, EPO was infused after detorsion procedure. Four hours after detorsion, ipsilateral and contralateral testes were taken out for evaluation. HIF-1 a and TNF- a mRNA expressios are evaluated with RT-PCR and apoptosis via measurement of caspase-3 activity by spectrophotometric method.

Results: 

Treatment with EPO improved testicular tissue and germ cell apoptosis in both testes following testicular IR. HIF-1 a mRNA expression was increased, TNF- a expression was decreased after EPO treatment. Tissue caspase-3 activity was negatively correlated with tissue HIF-1 mRNA expression levels.

Conclusion: 

We concluded that testicular I/R causes an increase in germ cell apoptosis both in the ipsilateral and contralateral testes. Eryhropoietin has antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects following testicular torsion by inducing most important hypoxia regulated gene HIF- a.

This study is supported by TUBITAK project no: SBAG-AYD-487.